We just place the hydrophones - underwater microphones - in the water and just listen to the soundsOskar Glowacki, Institute of Geophysics, Polish Academy of Sciences

Oskar Glowacki, from the Institute of Geophysics at the Polish Academy of Sciences, said: "Using acoustics, we can get very accurate data and we can collect this data continuously. We just place the hydrophones - underwater microphones - in the water and listen to the sounds."

The researchers used their kit to capture every rumble, groan and snap as ice cleaved away from the Hans Glacier in Svalbard.

Combining this with time-lapse photography, they discovered that the birth of different types of icebergs creates different sounds. The team found three acoustic signatures from this tidal glacier.

This not only allows them to work out how ice is crumbling into the water, but they can use the sounds to determine the stage of the break up, even when it is taking place underwater.